July 26, 2012

Leading Along The Continuum

There's a cliff.  

At the bottom is a body.

What do you think may have happened?

It's a matter of how you interpret what you find.

If you think the person:

1) Fell...
--then it is viewed as an accident.

2) Was pushed...
--then it was murder.

3) Jumped...
--then it was a suicide.

Three scenarios...three different interpretations.

With our personality attributes, it's the same way--they can viewed either positively or negatively.

Is the person?
- Trusting or gullible
- Optimistic or impractical
- Caring or smothering
- Self-confidant or arrogant
- Ambitious or ruthless
- Organized or controlling
- Persuasive or pressuring
- Decisive or rash
- Imaginative or a dreamer
- Entrepreneurial or reckless
- Cautious or suspicious
- Economical or stingy
- Reserved or cold
- Methodical or rigid
- Analytical or nit-picky
- Thorough or obsessive
- Principled or unbending
- Flexible or inconsistent
- Sociable or dependent
- An experimenter or aimless
- Curious or nosy

Every good trait, can be viewed and interpreted as bad and vice versa. 

When it comes to the workplace, you need to apply good situational leadership. 

Apply your strengths with the right amount of measure along the continuum and you're golden.

Lean too far toward either extreme, and you risk becoming a poor manager. 

The better leader can apply their traits in a purposeful way rather than being controlled by them.

While the weaker one is a victim of their personality flaws.

So was it an accident, murder, or suicide?

The facts are there somewhere, but when it comes to personality much depends on how you apply it. 

(Source photo: here with attribution to NYC Arthur)

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